We stayed there for quite a while. I don’t know how long. But the others did arrive at the entrance and a familiar voice started calling out for me, prompting Lauren to suddenly shove me away, hissing “Go deal with it.”

I get it, she doesn’t want everyone to see her so messed up. It’s probably unnecessary though, considering people would need quite a high Perception to even see in here.

Regardless, I head into the hall to answer Rav’s calls.

He stands in the space between the stone doors, holding a dim light of what I can only guess is Mana and peering into the darkness. His face lights up when he spots me, and, waving, he starts making his way over.

“Rav wait, hold on a second. There are traps I’ll need to warn you about first. Let me come to you.”

He stops, frowning slightly, but ultimately he holds his ground and waits for my arrival.

His frown diminishes somewhat when he sees me edging around the giant pit.

“It’s good to see you safe.” I say, smiling as I approach. “Did the night go well back at camp?”

He meets my smile with a sad version of his own.

-”My friend, it was a trying time. We lost some of our fellows. We were warned about the dangers of the night, and though we prepared, we…” he trails off, searching for the right words. “-We did not prepare enough. The Shades were highly resistant to my magic and only seemed to be bothered by bright lights. We huddled around the campfire, but our own bodies cast shadows that they could use to approach. We tried scattering the flames to prevent this, but the light they produced was then insufficient to protect us. Three of our number were… we could not save them. Shaye, Pam, and Derek. Lauren hasn’t been seen since that night either… we assume the worst.” I… Oh.

I stay silent for a while, stunned by the realization that I could have gone back with Rav, helped, and made sure more people survived… Hell, if I hadn’t stayed here, Lauren probably would have stayed back as well and snuck over here early in the morning. That would have made a massive difference. For all that she is- was a terrible person, she would have made the difference, easily.

Rav sees my troubled expression and places his hand on my shoulder.

-”It is no fault of yours, my friend. This place needed to be guarded. We could not afford the risk. One man would not have made the difference. I am only thankful that you convinced Dean to return. Otherwise, I know he would have insisted on staying to guard as well, and we would have been worse off by far.”

I drop my gaze, shaking my head. “Lauren came here last night. She said she didn’t wait a moment and came… to back me up.” his eyes widen slightly. He knows it’s a lie. He doesn’t question further.

-”It is good to know she lives. Her help would have been… meaningful, but I assume she felt this place to be more important.”

I nod, placidly. He’s giving me an out and I’m taking it. Our conversation is, afterall, far from private.

The others- what’s left of them, anyway- are huddled in the cave entrance. Most of them look exhausted and shell shocked, with some notable exceptions. Dean looks brooding, his brow deeply furrowed, and he seems to be consciously avoiding looking at me. Nate just seems sad. Not shocked, broken, or anything that might come with a life or death struggle, just… regular sad. Like he dropped food on the ground and regretted he’d no longer be able to eat it.

The sadness diminished somewhat at the mention that Lauren was still alive, and he came over to interrupt.

~”Anthony, good to see you well. Where did you say Lauren had gotten off to?” Right to business, aren’t you. I know for a fact that him and his mental suggestion or whatever is the last thing Lauren needs right now.

I gesture into the inky dark. “She was exploring the dungeon a bit while I stood guard. I’m sure she’s in there somewhere. She said she’d be doing mostly scouting, so I think she’ll be back soon.”

His expression darkens, just for a moment before returning to his former, ‘benevolent,’ smile. I need to warn her about him. She might not even know about the suggestion stuff… I doubt any of them do. I think there’s something to do with the Will stat that makes me resistant, and it’s unlikely anyone else here has it.

That’s a problem.

Nate makes no move to leave the conversation, so I guess he’s a part of it now.

Rav nods and turns back to me, continuing his exposition. “When morning finally came, we were immediately knocked unconscious by a strange force. We all had dreams of ‘paths’.”

I nod. “We had a similar experience. Mine was… very strange. There were so many choices and none of them felt quite right. What kind of benefits did you get?”

-”Many choices? Odd. I had only three. They were all based around Mana. The one I chose was the Path of Intellect, and it gives Mana regeneration with every trait point, Intelligence every 5. I found it most useful.”

Good lord. That does sound useful. Way fucking MORE USEFUL THAN NOTHING.

Maybe I should have taken one of those other paths…

No. I don’t know what the darkness was. Whether it was death, like I thought, or something worse, but I chose what was best for me. The fact that the game is punishing me for it makes me feel almost vindicated. I don’t know that this world and its weird system is designed to help me, but there is a very obvious guide towards growing stronger. The game seems to have set crafting elements by the wayside, making them easy to get into with a magic item that just becomes whatever you need. That and you need Power to get the skills in the first place, so you pretty much have to fight.

Zathis’ tale about the Dwarves worries me. I don’t want humanity to go the same way.

“Yeah, like twenty or so.” A lie. “It was difficult picking the optimal one, you never know what you’re going to need in the future.”

Rav nods in return before facing Nate. -“We should move deeper into the dungeon to avoid being detected. We may be hidden visually, but our sounds and smells remain a problem.” Nate nods and looks to me.

“Of course, I’ll guide you all inside. I think there should be a few suitable locations for everyone to settle.”

---

The move was fairly uneventful. There were a few close calls with people trying to cross the pit, but nothing that wasn’t quickly fixed or avoided. The last room in the hall, with the seven sarcophagi, was converted into a dedicated sleeping area, which was immediately put to use by many of the survivors. The existence of so many ‘beds’ and the reasonable distance from potential threats made it the best option. People were sent out to collect grass for bedding, told to make sure they attracted no attention when they returned, and business continued mostly as normal. Just with seven instead of ten. I know Nate, Dean, Lauren, and Rav, but that still leaves three that I don’t have more than a passing familiarity with. I honestly don’t even remember their names.

If I’m going to be working with these people (and it seems that it’s in my best interest to do so), I’ll need their support.

I spent a bit of time talking to them as a group, catching them up on what had happened over here and the general layout of the dungeon. I also warned them to stay clear of the last room, partially because I’m certain someone will die on the traps, but also because I don’t want tons of people intruding on Zathis’ home.

The others, Tom, Marie, and Lynn, were thankful enough that Rav and I found the place, and more so that Lauren and I had cleared it for them. After they had rested somewhat, the tales of the rest of our meagre exploits and their relative success were well received. Though, I believe that was less because they were truly impressed and more because they wanted anything to take their minds off what happened last night.

What Rav hadn’t mentioned was that the three who were lost were actually lost, not dead. Carried off into the night, screaming and thrashing. Though the camp was able to fight back, they actually finished off very few Shades. They had mostly stopped attacking after they kidnapped the third person.

That was definitely bad news. Worse, because they probably all know about this dungeon now. If only I had managed to kill them all…

Maybe now I could have. Too late.

It’s no longer a haven from them. They’ll probably be back to carry off more of us tonight.

I worry what could happen if we’re discovered by the monster camp as well. We would have the potential for almost non-stop fighting, day and night.

We’d lose eventually under that pressure, no matter what.

…

Best not to let that happen.